About 700 Hispanic players—mostly from the Dominican Republic—come to
the US each year.

Dick Balderson, the Colorado Rockies` Vice President
of Player Personnel, said

"Instead of signing four
(American) guys at $25,000 each, you sign 20 Dominican
guys for $5,000 each. The unfortunate thing about this
game is that there are so many people yearning to play
it especially in a country like the Dominican Republic,
where $1,000-a-year wages are the norm and baseball is a
religion practiced by the impoverished."

Miguel Tejada, now a full-blown Baltimore Orioles superstar with a
multi-million dollar contract, remembers that his first
contract was with the Oakland A`s for $2,000.

Ron Plaza, formerly the
manager of the Cincinnati Reds and now a roving
instructor for the Oakland Athletics, is quoted by
Breton:

"Out of 10 (Dominican
players) who are released, I`d say nine stay here
illegally. They would rather live in the worst areas of
New York than go back home. You can`t handcuff them to
the plane, so there is very little we can do."

Once in New York, writes Breton, for the displaced non-English speaking
player,

The
Tampa Bay Devil Rays have already drafted Urquidez.
And Chamberlain, when he becomes a senior, will go high
in the draft too.

But whether or not either ever puts on a major league uniform may in
large part depend on what the
pitching crop looks like in the Dominican Republic.

And that`s a real shame because kids like Chamberlain and Urquidez have
been dreaming about the
big leagues since they bought their first baseball
card. They`re good enough to compete at any level.

For young stars like Chamberlain and Urquidez to get their shot, the
owners need to turn their attention away from the cheap
sources of players like the Dominican Republic—and pay
more attention to what`s going on at baseball diamonds
across America.

Joe Guzzardi [email
him], an instructor in English at the Lodi
Adult School, has been writing a weekly newspaper column
since 1988. This column is exclusive to VDARE.COM.